# Found a Strange Bottle of Islay



## BitchesBrew (Sep 5, 2006)

I was in my local liquor store today and came across a Whisky I had never seen
before. It's called "Island of Geese" and was labeled as a 10 year old Islay 
Single Malt Whisky. The label also says Roderick and Henderson, Haddington 
Scotland. I'm guessing that it is an independantly bottled whisky from one of 
the distilleries on Islay, but don't really know. I bought myself a bottle just to 
see what it was, and whatever it is, it's a very fine tasting Islay whisky. It's a
medium bodied whiskey that starts out sweet, then gives a big blast of 
iodine and peat, and finishes with a volitile smokey peat and sea essence. The 
taste, especially the vaporous finish reminds me of the the whisky from the 
Port Ellen distillery, but last I knew, that was closed down some years ago. 
It is definately a powerful emphatic Islay Whisky, but I can't match it with the 
house character of any of the currently available Islays. Lagavulin would come 
the closest though. I have no idea what I'm drinking, but it was only $30 a 
bottle, so I'll be going back for another bottle or two. Any ideas?


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## j6ppc (Jun 5, 2006)

Buy more IMHO.
You might also like laphroig 10 YO @ that price point.


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## D. Generate (Jul 1, 2004)

Never heard of that one. But if you can get Laphroaig at $30 a bottle, buy me one. The 10 year old is $41 here.

In Edinburgh at the Whisky Heritage Center gift shop I realized there were far more whiskies than I knew to exist or would have the time to try. Always good to hear of one to narrow the field a bit. 

Love the peaty, smokey, iodine flavor. I will keep my eye out for this one, especially if I can find it in that price neighborhood.


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## BitchesBrew (Sep 5, 2006)

Well, still trying to solve this puzzel, I had to sample a little more of the 
whisky, and apply some process of elimination. Here's what I came up with:

Although it reminds me of Port Ellen, that whisky is way too rare now to be 
dumped at $30 a bottle, so cross that off.

It's not a subtle Islay, so it can't be Bunnahabhain or Bruichladdich.

It's not quite as walloping as Ardbeg or Laphroaig, and bears no resemblance 
to Bowmore.

That leaves Lagavulin and Caol Ila. 

I'm leaning towards Caol Ila, since it has a big smokey peppery finish, and 
doesn't have the seaweed taste of Lagavulin. However, it's darker in colour 
than Caol Ila, and lacks some of the oilyness that I would expect from that 
distillery. I'm still not completely sure.

I guess I'll just follow j6ppc's advice and buy more of it. A tastey bottle of 
Islay for $30 is certainly a good deal, even if you don't know where it's from.


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## billybarue (Mar 20, 2006)

Anything that is that close to Lagavulin or Caol Ila for $30 is a steal. buy all you can.

5 or 6 years ago Trader Joes was selling Lagavulin for I think about $35.00. I didn't know about Islays at the time. I wish I had bought cases of it. My favorite Scotch.

BillyBarue


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## Liquidtensi0n (Jul 8, 2006)

Laphroiad 10 yo here in Virginia is $47. God damn state liquor monopoly... New Hampshire has the same thing by they are economically responsible and don't sell at monopoly prices.


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## DaveNJ (May 3, 2004)

Did you ever learn any more about this scotch? I saw it yesterday at Total Wine for $29 and was wondering about it. Web search turned up blank


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## GOAT LOCKER (Aug 7, 2004)

Looks like it from a small distributor called "London & Scottish International ltd". Apparently, they select whiskeys from famous distillers and market them under their label.

Link


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## BitchesBrew (Sep 5, 2006)

DaveNJ:

Yes I bought my bottles at Total Wine in Cherry Hill NJ. At this point I'm 
quite certain the stuff is Caol Ila. Don't worry too much about what it is. If 
you like good bottles of Islay, you will definately be pleased with this, and you 
can't beat the price.


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## DaveNJ (May 3, 2004)

BitchesBrew said:


> DaveNJ:
> 
> Yes I bought my bottles at Total Wine in Cherry Hill NJ. At this point I'm
> quite certain the stuff is Caol Ila. Don't worry too much about what it is. If
> ...


I don't know how the Total Wine stores are elsewhere but the Cherry Hill store is awesome. You can shop there your whole life and never buy the same wine twice. Scotch selection is not quite as good but the prices are very good. Based on your recommendation I will pick one up next time I am there. I like the Caol Isla 12yo but that is about $45 a bottle.


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## RJT (Feb 12, 2005)

Sounds very nice. Do I hear another group buy comming? :hn


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## DaveNJ (May 3, 2004)

*Tried it; Thumbs up!*

I picked up a bottle at Total Wine yesterday. I completely agree with your assessment. I nice Islay with strong (but not overpowering) smoke and medicine, and an interesting citrussy background. Well worth the $30 price. It could very well be a Caol Isla. I finished my Caol Isla 12yo a couple of weeks ago so I was not able to do a direct compare. A strong thumbs up, especially for value. I also so a bottle of "Glen Ness" Highland malt which appears to be bottled by the same company. That may be my next adventure


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## rborrell (Aug 30, 2006)

Last month at O'Hare airport, I bought a bottle of Caol Ila and another of Ardbeg for $80 for the pair. I love travelling home and using duty free!


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## billybarue (Mar 20, 2006)

rborrell said:


> Last month at O'Hare airport, I bought a bottle of Caol Ila and another of Ardbeg for $80 for the pair. I love travelling home and using duty free!


 When I was based in Miami I was flying mainly Carribean and Cetral American trips so I got to go though duty free about 8 times a week. Miami Duty Free had Chivas Royal Salute (21 year) for about $85 a bottle. Usually see it about $140 retail. Love that stuff, but not at $140!!!
I need to get back to International flying!

Back to the point of the post. Caol Ila is very high on my list of single malts (Lagavulin 16 being my favorite). If that is really Caol Ila for $30, that is a great price. Looks like it has 10 years age to it, and I would have thought if they were selling it they would try to do it as a younger Scotch. So it seems like a great deal to me.

BillyBarue


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## RPB67 (Mar 26, 2005)

RJT said:


> Sounds very nice. Do I hear another group buy comming? :hn


Yup !


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## MadAl (Feb 19, 2006)

Liquidtensi0n said:


> Laphroiad 10 yo here in Virginia is $47. God damn state liquor monopoly... New Hampshire has the same thing by they are economically responsible and don't sell at monopoly prices.


If you vacation in New Hampshire you can get Quarter Cask for $45.00!!


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## Che (Dec 4, 2003)

*Re: Tried it; Thumbs up!*



DaveNJ said:


> I picked up a bottle at Total Wine yesterday. I completely agree with your assessment. I nice Islay with strong (but not overpowering) smoke and medicine, and an interesting citrussy background. Well worth the $30 price. It could very well be a Caol Isla. I finished my Caol Isla 12yo a couple of weeks ago so I was not able to do a direct compare. A strong thumbs up, especially for value. I also so a bottle of "Glen Ness" Highland malt which appears to be bottled by the same company. That may be my next adventure


Good call. A quick guess based on what you described would lead me to believe this is young Caol Ila whisky.

But, it would come as no surprise if your 12 year old distillery bottle didn't show a direct relation. Caol Ila does have some latitude to compare to Port Ellen whisky. Those elements don't seem very common in the distillery bottles recently tasted though. Most of the private bottled Caol Ila I have come across lately, also isn't easily identifiable or a definitive match to the distillery bottles that recently became commercially available.


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